Self-leveling furniture



C. LENARDIC. SELF LEVELING FURNITURE.

v I APPLICATION FILED AUG: I4, 1919. RENEWED OCT-6,1921. 1,414,291 Patented pr- 25, 1922.

UNITED STATES- SELF-' EVELIN FURNITURE.

Specificationbf Letters Patent.

P ENT OFFICE,

- cHAnLEs-rmmemo, or oLEvELAiInoHio;

Application filed. August 14, 1919, Serial No. 317,501;--Renewed ctober.6, -l1921'. Serial No. 505,926.

T 0 all w item it may concern Be it knownthatl, CHARLES LENARDIO, a,

citizen of the United States of America, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self Leveling Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

The primary ob ect of the present invention resides in the provision of self leveling furniture especially adapted for use upon ships in whicha platform section such as a table top or chair bottom is adapted to assume a horizontal position at all times regardless of the position of the ships floor for supporting the same.

A further object of the invention is to provide self leveling furniture for ships in which a tabletop or chair bottom is adapted to assume a horizontal position atall times while a slight rotary movement of the table top or chair bottom will be permittedwith devices for limiting the rotary movement.

With the above general objects in view and others that will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and then claimed, refporting member and the cooperating means;

' for limiting the rotary movement of the table top;

Describing the invention more in detail, it being understood that the present construction of self leveling devices may as well be employed in connection with chairs or other forms of furniture, there' is illustrated a table-embodying supporting legs 3 carrying feet 4 at the lower ends thereof by which the same may be secured to a floor or other support as illustrated. The legs 3 converge upwardly and carry at the upper ends, a bowl-shaped socket member 5 having a relatively large opening which is centrally ar-'' ranged in the bottom thereof as illustrated in Fi 1, while the; bwiahapea member is f supported at its upper peripheral edgebythe supporting, legs 3.

Atable top 7 s carried b a es -septa member 8 carrying radially disposed-prongs 9 at the upper edge thereof and by which if the table top 7 is secured to the cup-shaped member 8 as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Ball races are formed in the'inner wall of the bowl-shaped member 5' and into which a plurality of ball bearings 10 are adapted to be received, the balls freely supporting the cup-shaped member 8 for unrestricted free movement relative thereto, the balls being retained in the racescby the particular formation thereof.

A weight is associated with the" cup shaped member 8 and includes a relatively large casing 11 having a door opening 12" through which'a desired number of weighted members 13 may be introduced to the casing 11,a screw l l being carried by the upper end of the casing 11 freely projecting.

through the relatively large opening 6 and threaded through the centrally formed boss 'ets 17 being secured to theouter wall of the cup-shaped member 8 with outwardly directed forked projections 18 overlying and projecting beyond the upper edge of the '15 in .the bottom of' the cup-shaped member 8 and retained adjusted relative thereto by the nut 16. I V i bowl-shaped member 5, and between which j forked projections, a spur 19 carried bythe outer wall of the bowl-shaped member 5218 adapted to extend for free positioning therebetween.-

With the construction above described, the table top 7 is capable'of being maintained in a substantially rigid position when in use by regulating thecontents 13 in the casing '11 while the equilibrium thereof is maintained by the weighted casing associated with the cup-shaped member 8 and freely projecting from the bowl -shaped member 5, the ball bearings 11 permitting a free and unrestrictedrelatiye movementvof the parts 5and 8while the forked projections 18 and the spurs 19 willco'ntrol the slight relative rotary movement of the table top 7.

the'preferred embodiment of the invention,-

I While there is herein shown and described ball bearings holding the members in spaced relation, a self-leveling Weight fixed to the inner member and freely projecting through the outer member, fork-shaped projections carried by the inner member at points adjacent the upper end-thereofand overlying the upper'edge of the outer member, and spurs carriedby the outer member and projecting upwardly above the edges of the outer member and loosely extending into i the fork-shaped projections for limiting the rotary movements of the cooperating members. v

o In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES LENARDIC. 

